THE SAGA OF THE CHIPLEY ABBEY LEAK

My Dad was a big fan of the comedy duo Flanders and Swann and I grew up listening to their songs such as The Gas man Cometh which describes a catalogue of domestic mishaps requiring one tradesman after another from the gas man to the electrician to the joiner to the decorator to put things right ending up with the wretched householder having to call out the gas man again.

I was reminded of this circular saga recently when I was trying to help residents around Chipley Abbey. There has been a long standing problems with potholes made worse by another even longer standing problem of a water leak.

I did get highways out at one stage to tackle some of the potholes – but really the leak needed fixing. Frances and Jonathan Wheatley repeatedly reported the water leak last year, and again this year – but to no avail.

In May someone from Anglia Water visited the site and marked it with a blue cross.

Week beginning 18th August, road closure signs were put up without warning – during harvest – and the repair was said to have been carried out.

By the end of that week, the leak was running stronger than ever before and was much, much worse.

The Wheatleys rang Anglian Water to be told that there was no record of the repair being carried out. They reported the leak again

Saturday 30 August, another person from Anglia Water visited the site and marked it with yet another blue cross.

Nothing happened and I was asked to help. Mindful of the speed with which Anglian Water rushed to fix a leak in Lower Street, Stansfield once the story appeared in the press of a water garden at the source of the leak – complete with fishing gnome, I contacted the AW press office.

I explained that the Stansfield gnome would soon be taking up residence at Chipley Abbey.

Within a week a team was out and the repair was fixed… annoyingly highways had been out in the meantime and filled a pothole which was promptly washed out by the leak.

Anyway, the leak is fixed, I have now got to get highways out again.

Even better news, is that in the exchange of emails I had with Anglian Water I also pointed out the leak in Thurston End Lane and that is now listed for repair this week!